GTA Vice City began life as a GTA 3 expansion, Rockstar reveals

Despite there being a long list of titles in the GTA franchise, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is considered as one of the best. However, it may surprise you to learn that it originally began life as a Grand Theft Auto III expansion, according to Rockstar.

As the fourth instalment in the Grand Theft Auto franchise, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City burst onto our screens in 2002 and has remained one of the best gaming experiences of all time. Telling the story of Tommy Vercetti's rise to power, it featured both a character and setting that has been hard to beat despite the franchise continuing to this day with the upcoming release of GTA VI.

Check out a remastered Vice City in this GTA: Vice City graphics mod!

However, according to former Rockstar North technical director Obbe Vermeij (courtesy of Insider Gaming), GTA: Vice City was originally planned to be an expansion for GTA III before it grew in size. Ultimately, it was too good to just be a DLC.

"It was Rockstar New York's idea to set the game in the 80s in Miami,” wrote Vermeij on his blog. “Originally it was supposed to be a mission pack to GTA III. Only once GTA III did as well as it did and Vice City started to look sufficiently different from GTA III was the decision made to make it a standalone game."

According to Vermeij, this decision was made around six months into Vice City’s development which is quite a short amount of time to realise the title’s impact. However, with the game quickly becoming 2002’s best-selling game and one that is still talked about to this day, it seems Rockstar definitely made the right choice.

With Grand Theft Auto VI set to return players to the much-loved Vice City, fans are excited to see some popular landmarks and scenery that they first experienced over 20-years ago.

In related news, the long-awaited Grand Theft Auto VI trailer is set to drop in December.